Recently I’ve been considering going to graduate school. Going through the application process, I’ve been struck by how impossible graduate education must seem to many qualified people, especially if you are a parent.
Putting aside the logistics of actually studying for a degree, just applying requires staggering resources. Preparing for and taking the GMAT require most people to study intensely and take classes. Normally when you take a class in preparation for a test, you get some additional value out of it — knowledge or credential. But classes in service to standardized testing only teach one thing with one very narrow purpose: how to beat the exam. And yet, the test is such that an average person might have trouble competing without one.
So GMAT and GMAT prep: roughly $1,500 if you only have to take the test once, and a whole lot of time.
Then there’s the applications themselves, which seem to me to have far greater intrinsic value. The essay questions really do require you to think about why you are interested in graduate school, and they offer insight to both the applicant and the school. But of course, writing four 500-word essays for each school, plus gathering old transcripts, recommendations, and sundry other letters and back-up materials also takes a great deal of time and costs between $100 and $250 per school.
I’m not meaning to bash higher ed for the process; the applications and tests probably do offer a fairly good indication of who might fit with particular programs. But if you have ever wondered why it is that so many top MBA students are young adults from wealthy families, it’s because even a middle class person would find the fees and investment of time too staggering to contemplate, much less someone with a low income and children. (The same could be said, by the way, for many PhD, law and other kinds of masters programs.)
Once you’ve been accepted there are an array of financing options. That said, the costs of higher education at private, and many public, universities are almost inconceivable. These costs require people to take and stay in jobs they hate for years and years just to cover the crushing debt. If working mothers in professional jobs sometimes feel trapped, for many of them it is because they are paying off education expenses.
The larger question is where this puts our workforce. If only the wealthiest people have real access to top graduate educations, are we limiting diversity and growth in many sectors — business, law, medicine and academia? If some suggest that the financial crisis would have been mitigated with more women in executive positions, I would similarly suggest that things might have been different with more people from all walks of life in these jobs. It’s much easier to act in risky ways if you have always taken comfort and wealth for granted.
Higher ed people, would love to hear opinions on this from those of you on the frontlines of admissions and academia.
Related Links:
- I’m a fan of the American Association of University Women, an organization that advocates for women in academia, and helps those looking to pursue graduate education. Check out their blog here.
- Penelope Trunk writes about why you shouldn’t go to grad school, saying that “the grad school model needs to change to adapt to the new workplace.”
- The Forté Foundation offers some terrific resources for women looking to pursue a business degree.
- Theresa Phillips at About.com writes about raising and family while pursuing a graduate degree.
5 Comments
November 5, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I don’t think it has to cost as much as you say to *apply* to grad school.
The GMAT is $250. The extra costs you state include the costs of prep courses which, though certainly helpful, are not necessary.
Many schools, including Columbia, send transcripts for free or a small fee of $20 or so.
Of course, the applications fee can be high. But my recommendation is to carefully select a few schools rather than blanketing a ton. Do the research up front to see which schools are compatible. I also know of many schools that will waive the application fee for hardship cases. You can call the admissions office to see if this is possible.
So, I think the application side can be done with a small, though not insignificant, outlay of cash.
As for the time and effort to apply, I think there *should* be significant work involved in applying to grad school.
First, of all, the admissions committee needs more input than just a transcript. When I sat on graduate school admissions committees, the essays were just as important as the transcript in determining my decision.
Second, being in grad school is a serious commitment. If you are having trouble finding the time to write the applications, then consider that you might not have the time to properly devote to a graduate program.
Once you get in, though, paying for grad school is definitely a concern. Some people’s existing employers will subsidize education. This is how my sister got through grad school. However, I realize that probably isn’t available to those at the lowest income brackets.
Another option is, of course, loans. My opinion on this is that you have to consider the income you will have upon graduation vs. the amount of loans you will take. A good rule of thumb I use for school loan debt (for undergrad + grad school) is half your annual salary after graduation. So, if you expect to make $100K with your first job out of school, you should take no more than $50K out in loans. This generally works out to a serviceable monthly payment upon graduation given that most school loans have >10yr payback period. If going to grad school is not going to give you a huge income boost, then I do not think you should take out loans to do it.
If your rich parents are paying for grad school, then you have the luxury to study whatever you want. If you are paying for it yourself, then you are stuck studying something that must pay off financially. But, I do not think that graduate education, per se, is out of reach of the working poor. It is definitely harder for them, but not impossible.
November 5, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Unless you’re really at risk of not meeting the minimum cutoff, don’t spend money on GMAT coaching / prep. At most, buy a book of sample questions and tests. The difference between a bad score and a good score on admission prospects is huge; the difference between a good score and a great score is negligible.
The cost of $100-250 per school for materials also seems excessive. Time and money are substitutable here: If you plan enough in advance, regular mail will suffice. If you wait until the last minute, you will end up spending lots of money on courier fees.
Finally: MBA training at a top school is generally accessible (if you’re going to a top-50 MBA program, finding debt financing should be easy enough), but requires you to take on a job from the limited subset of career paths capable of servicing the debt from an MBA degree. I’m not sure I buy the idea that you have to be stuck in a job you hate to pay back an MBA – but yes, they definitely keep you from taking on certain career paths immediately post-graduation, including non-profit and entrepreneurial paths.
November 5, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Last thought:
Your about page says you already have a master’s (sounds like the PEPM at Columbia?).
Be very (VERY) selective about the MBA programs you apply to. You’re likely to get more out of the teamwork, time management, networking and credentialing of the program than the content itself. With a master’s in hand, you may find that a lot of the content could easily be replaced with some diligent independent reading. What likely matters to your career path isn’t the course content, but rather who you come to know, the connections you make, the people you work with, and the alumni network you enter into.
November 6, 2009 at 2:55 am
My two friends just applied for Grad School for future high paying jobs. I hope they made the right choice.
November 6, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I think there are two separate things going on in your post: money and kids. The money side can be managed. I put myself through law school in the mid-90s after working for a couple of years after college. I took out some loans, worked during the summers and during my third year, and learned how to cook. It was fine; I paid off the debt fairly quickly after I graduated. So I am not sure I agree with the premise that as a result of financial pressures, grad school is the province of the wealthy.
But grad school with kids is another thing entirely. I can’t really imagine trying to juggle school, kids, and work. I found law school to be enormously fun but pretty all-consuming; I think it would have been hard to balance it with parenting — especially if I’d also had to work part- or full-time for financial reasons. I think working that first job after grad school with kids would have been even more challenging; I was glad that I got those first few associate years under my belt before I had my first child.